Can a Dollar Auction become a theological discussion???
Is there any sort of theological discussion you can think of in response to the "Dollar Auction"? A short explanation taken from Freakonomics blog:
A teacher auctions off a $20 bill to the highest bidder. Bids have to be in round dollar amounts, but the twist is that both the highest and the second-highest bidder have to pay.
When uninitiated students start to play this game, someone rushes to bid $3 or $4 dollars for the prospect of winning $20, and then other students respond by bidding up the price.
But then something amazing happens as the auction price starts approaching $20. The remaining bidders realize that they could end up having to pay a lot of money and not win the auction.
Imagine that you had bid $19, and another bidder upped the ante by bidding $20. What would you do? Is it better to bid $21 for a $20 prize or to remain silent and pay $19 for nothing?
What starts off as a feel-good exercise to take advantage of a generous professorial offer suddenly becomes a sickening war of attrition, where the last two bidders pay more than what the prize is worth. These games routinely end with the winning bid being 50 percent higher than the value of the prize. Since both the highest and second-highest bidders pay, this means that the professor rakes in about three times the amount being auctioned.
I am thinking of things like being duped or 'sold' on an idea which seems like a good thing but in reality is a loose-loose situation for all involved. Perhaps this game could accent how the world works and the church's role to call out the injustice in the systems which are before us?
A teacher auctions off a $20 bill to the highest bidder. Bids have to be in round dollar amounts, but the twist is that both the highest and the second-highest bidder have to pay.
When uninitiated students start to play this game, someone rushes to bid $3 or $4 dollars for the prospect of winning $20, and then other students respond by bidding up the price.
But then something amazing happens as the auction price starts approaching $20. The remaining bidders realize that they could end up having to pay a lot of money and not win the auction.
Imagine that you had bid $19, and another bidder upped the ante by bidding $20. What would you do? Is it better to bid $21 for a $20 prize or to remain silent and pay $19 for nothing?
What starts off as a feel-good exercise to take advantage of a generous professorial offer suddenly becomes a sickening war of attrition, where the last two bidders pay more than what the prize is worth. These games routinely end with the winning bid being 50 percent higher than the value of the prize. Since both the highest and second-highest bidders pay, this means that the professor rakes in about three times the amount being auctioned.
I am thinking of things like being duped or 'sold' on an idea which seems like a good thing but in reality is a loose-loose situation for all involved. Perhaps this game could accent how the world works and the church's role to call out the injustice in the systems which are before us?
